HIS LADY.]
HUDIBRAS.
429
Attacked by despicable foes,
And drubb'd with mean and vulgar blows;
And, after all, to be debarr'd
So much as standing on his guard; 160
When horses, being spurr'd and prick'd,
Have leave to kick for being kick'd?
Or why should you, whose mother-wits[1]
Are furnish'd with all perquisites;
That with your breeding teeth begin, 165
And nursing babies that lie in;
B' allow'd to put all tricks upon
Our cully[2] sex, and we use none?
We, who have nothing but frail vows
Against your stratagems t' oppose; 170
Or oaths, more feeble than your own,
By which we are no less put down?[3]
You wound, like Parthians, while you fly,
And kill with a retreating eye;[4]
Retire the more, the more we press, 175
To draw us into ambushes:
As pirates all false colours wear,
T' intrap th' unwary mariner;
So women, to surprise us, spread
The borrow'd flags of white and red; 180
Display 'em thicker on their cheeks,
Than their old grandmothers, the Picts;
And raise more devils with their looks,
Than conjurers' less subtle books:
Lay trains of amorous intrigues, 185
In tow'rs, and curls, and periwigs,
With greater art and cunning rear'd,
Than Philip Nye's Thanksgiving-beard;[5]
And drubb'd with mean and vulgar blows;
And, after all, to be debarr'd
So much as standing on his guard; 160
When horses, being spurr'd and prick'd,
Have leave to kick for being kick'd?
Or why should you, whose mother-wits[1]
Are furnish'd with all perquisites;
That with your breeding teeth begin, 165
And nursing babies that lie in;
B' allow'd to put all tricks upon
Our cully[2] sex, and we use none?
We, who have nothing but frail vows
Against your stratagems t' oppose; 170
Or oaths, more feeble than your own,
By which we are no less put down?[3]
You wound, like Parthians, while you fly,
And kill with a retreating eye;[4]
Retire the more, the more we press, 175
To draw us into ambushes:
As pirates all false colours wear,
T' intrap th' unwary mariner;
So women, to surprise us, spread
The borrow'd flags of white and red; 180
Display 'em thicker on their cheeks,
Than their old grandmothers, the Picts;
And raise more devils with their looks,
Than conjurers' less subtle books:
Lay trains of amorous intrigues, 185
In tow'rs, and curls, and periwigs,
With greater art and cunning rear'd,
Than Philip Nye's Thanksgiving-beard;[5]
- ↑ Why should you, who were sharp and witty from your infancy, who bred wit with your teeth, &c.
- ↑ Foolish, or easily gulled.
- ↑ That is, we are no less subdued by your oaths than by your stratagems.
- ↑ The Parthians were excellent horsemen and very dexterous in shooting their arrows behind them, by which means their flight was often as destructive to the enemy as their attack.
- ↑ Nye was a member of the Assembly of Divines, and as remarkable for his beard as for his fanaticism. He first entered at Brazen-nose college, Oxford, and afterwards removed to Magdalen-hall, where he took his degrees, and then went to Holland. In 1640 he returned home a furious Presbyterian;
